Kang Young-Hoon (Korean: 강영훈, 30 May 1922 – 10 May 2016) was a South Korean politician who served as the second prime minister of the sixth South Korean republic, from 16 December 1988 until 27 December 1990.

Kang was appointed Prime Minister by PresidentRoh Tae-woo, who at the same time replaced 19 of 23 Cabinet members in a major shake up meant to separate himself from his disgraced predecessor, President Chun Doo-hwan. Kang was chosen, in part, because of his opposition to the Park Chung-hee-led coup of 1961.[5] A moderate, Kang supported the democratic transition between the previous military regimes and civilian rule.[7] During his tenure, political violence continued at universities throughout South Korea as groups labeled by the regime as "leftist radicals" advocated for the overthrow of the Government.[8][9] After a rise in violence during the Spring of 1989, Kang offered to follow opposition party demands to resign if he were held responsible for mishandling state affairs surrounding the violence.[10]

After months of negotiations, Kang took part in historic talks with his North Korean counterpart, Prime Minister Yon Hyong-muk.[11][12][13] The highest-level contact between the two Governments since 1945, the exchange of visits by respective Prime Ministers were aimed at reducing tension on the peninsula and an eventual reunification.[14] The first meeting occurred on 5–6 September 1990 in Seoul, permitting both sides to directly address their concerns on issues regarding disarmament, United States troop withdrawal, release of political prisoners, visitation rights and reunification; the tone remained amiable.[15]

The Prime Ministers met a second time on 17–18 October 1990, this time in Pyongyang, culminating in a meeting with Kim Il-sung.[16] After initially maintaining the positive tone of the earlier meeting, tensions rose as both sides dropped their earlier civil tone and accused each other of bad faith.[17][18] Both sides became suspicious that the other was using the talks to further its political agenda; Kang accused the North Koreans of "doing things that foment division and further put off peace" as well as using the talks to interfere with South Korean internal affairs while North Korean representatives criticized South Korea's suggestions to increase trade, cultural and humanitarian exchanges. Despite a lack of mutual agreement on substantive issues, the two sides agreed to another round of talks in Seoul from 11–14 December.[18] Even with the dismissive position of North Korean officials, soccer matches and folk-music-concert exchanges did take place in the subsequent months.[18][19] The third meeting in December failed to come to a compromise over a proposed "declaration of non-aggression,"[20] which had been on the table since September; however both sides agreed yet again to continue talks the following February.[19]